24 PAGES or WINNING WHI ST POINTERS 







WHIST 

"DON'TS" 




APPtYING TO THE GAME AS PLAYED AT 
PUBLIC WHIST PARTIES 

ruDLiu nniwi rniiiiLu. 




BY 

WESTON P. TRUESDELL 








COPYRIGHT. 1914, BY WESTON P. TRUESDELL 



**PLAYING FOR AMUSEMENT.'* 
^ ^iftH, I play Whist only for amusement; I don't pretend to 
play according to the rules." 

How often do we hear that gray-headed, antediluvian, thread- 
bare pronouncement made by persona who, in all respects save 
Whist-playing, seem to be well-meaning, courteous and pos- 
sessed of good common sense. Now it is certain that if these 
persons knew the real significance of the remark it would never 
be made. What it really means is nothing mg^e nor less than 
just this: **I am sitting down to this game with the full knowl- 
edge that I am going to spoil the enjoyment of three other 
persons, but that does not disturb me in the least, for I expect 
to get some amusement out of it." (*Tembridge" says, con- 
cerning the "amusement" player: **In all well-regulated so- 
ciety, your aim should be the greatest happiness of the great- 
est number; and that number is notoriously number one.") 

You think that this is a harsh statement of the case? Well, 
let's see. Let me try to make the matter plain by an illustra- 
tion or two: We will suppose, for instance, that I know nothing 
whatever of dancing, only that it consists of moving your feet 
about in some prescribed form with which I am unacquainted, 
and circling around the room. Armed with this knowledge, I 
proceed to the ballroom, secure a partner, and begin to hop 
merrily around the room. I step on my partner's feet, tear her 
skirt, and bump her up against the other dancers, all with the 
^utmost glee. If she ventures to remark that I have a very pecul- 
iar way of dancing, I nonchalantly reply, "Oh, I only dance for 
amusement; I don't pretend to dance according to the rules. 
Come on, I'm having lots of fun, aren't you?" 

Or, again: Suppose that I, knowing nothing whatever of the 
piano, only that sounds are produced by striking the keys, sit 
down to the instrument some evening at a social gathering, and 
proceed to hammer away at the keys with my closed fists, using 
my elbows, knees and feet occasionally for the sake of variety. 
Suppose that, after the guests have enjoyed this for an hour or 
so, some supersensitive person suggests to me that my method 
of playing is not meeting with unmixed approbation. I am not 
only shocked, but deeply pained. "Why," I rejoin, "I play only 
for amusement; I don't pretend to play according to the rules." 

Now does a light begin to shine on you, my dear well-meaning 
but unreflective "amusement" player? In neither of the in- 
stances cited above would I have struck a more deadly blow at 

(CONTINURD OX THIRD COVKR PACr..) 



125 WHIST "DONT'S" 



[AUTHOR^S NOTE. -I may state that, while the principles 
enunciated in the following: pages are in conformity with those 
of the correct or "scientific'^ game, yet in designating the pro- 
per card to be played in given cases, I have not used the tech- 
nical and complicated system involved in the * 'conventional' ' 
or information-giving leads and plays of scientific Whist. It 
has been my endeavor merely to make suggestions that will en- 
able the reader to play a fine game of Every-Day Whist— not 
to instruct him in the art of Scientific or **Book'' Whist, which, 
however much it is to be regretted, has no place in the public 
Whist party of to-day. Weston P. Truesdell.] 

BEFORE THE PLAY 

1. — Don't pick up a card until the deal is finished. 

2. — Don't look at the trump, when dealing, until it is turned. 

3. — Don't fail to properly sort and arrange your cards, and to 
count them, before beginning to play. 

4. — Don't fail to carefully note not only the trump card, but 
its denomination. If you will mentally name the trump card, 
thus: *The 8 of Diamonds is trump," you will find it a surpris- 
ing help in remembering it. 

5. — Don't forget that, while you may be told what suit is 
trump, in case you forget (which is inexcusable) you must not 
be told the denomination of the trump card. Hence it would 
seem wise to remember it yourself. 

WHEN FIRST IN LEAD AFTER THE DEAL 

6. — Don't just simply lead the first Ace you see. 

7. — Don't fail to examine your cards carefully before open- 
ing the hand. 

8. — Don't forget that an unwise opening may cost you 
several tricks. 

9. —Don't open with a short suit that you may have to trump, 
if you have a long suit and enough trumps to probably estab- 
lish it. 



2 



FIRST LEAD AFTERTHE DEAL 



10. — Don't try to establish a long, strong suit with only two 
or three trumps, unless you have good cards of re-entry in both 
of the remaining suits. 

11. — Don't forget that in such a case it is better to weaken 
your opponents first by forcing them to trump your long suit 
once or twice, after which you may succeed in getting out their 
remaining: trumps. 

12. — Don't start out, when first leader after the deal, by lead- 
ing a **sneak" — at least, don't do this oftener than about once 
in every fifty years. You needn't refrain on the ground of mor- 
ality; it's bad play, that's all. (See The **Sneak" Lead, No. 59.) 

13. — Don't forget that there is a right lead, and many 
wrong leads, in every hand that you pick up, no matter how 
poor it may be. Don't play **any old thing" when you have a 
poor hand, but try to make the best lead you can. It may save 
you tricks. 

14. — Don't forget these pointers: If you have a long, strong 
suit and four or more trumps, don't lead the suit, but lead the 
trump. Trumps may also be led with only three, provided you 
hold Ace and King, and good re=entry cards. (See No. 75.) If 
you have a niissing suit, don't lead trumps, even with a strong 
suit, unless your trumps are all winning cards. With small 
trumps you may do better by using them to trump in with, than 
by losing them to a stronger opponent in an attempt to estab- 
lish your suit. In such a case, open your best suit. With a 
few small trumps and a weak hand all around, lead your short- 
est suit (but not a sneak), in the hope of getting in one or two 
of your little trumps. (See also Leads in General, page 8.) 

PLAYING SECOND HAND 

15. — Don't forget that playing the second hand is a far more 
important position than it is considered by the average player. 

16. — Don't play a small card on a small card led, when you 
hold the King, Queen and small ones. You should play the King. 

17. — Don't lead the suit back, if your King wins. The leader 
probably has the Ace, and may win with the Jack, when your 
» Queen loses. 

18. — Don't forget that the player at second hand should act 
as a protector of his partner, the player at fourth hand, when- 
ever possible. 

19. — Don't hesitate— when not intending to use your trumps 

©JI.A380317 SEP 14 1914 



PLAYING SECOND HAND 



3 



for the purpose of establishing a suit — to trump a doubtful card. 
If your partner should happen to hold the high card, he can 
make it later on. 

20. — Don't forget to forget ail about that ancient axiom, 
**second hand low" — except as a general priteiple with so many 
modifications and exceptions as to almost deprive it of the dig- 
nity of being a principle. 

21. — Don't fail to trump a suit that your partner has already 
trumped, if you see that he has to use high trumps, while you 
can use small ones, and can neither discard to advantage nor 
use your trumps to establish a suit. 

22. — Don't forget that, while it is theoretically up to your 
partner at fourth hand to take the trick on a small card led, it 
is your duty, not to blindly play ''second hand low," but to 
stop and see if you cannot play a supporting card that may pos- 
sibly protect his Ace or other high card. < ; 

23. — Don't play the small one on a small card led, when you 
hold Queen and one small, or Jack and one small, etc., or when 
you hold Queen, Jack and one small, etc. Snpposirg the leader 
to have led from the King, you may protect your partner's Ace, 
while even if third hand wins, you have lost nothing, for you 
could not have made your high card, anyway. 

24. — Don't think that this plan is wrong because it may some- 
times happen that when, with Queen and one small, you put up 
the Queen, third hand covers With the King and forces your 
partner's Ace, making your opponents' Jack good for the sec- 
ond round, which would have been won by your Queen if you 
had played the small one instead. Just keep tally, see how of- 
ten it happens this way and how often the other way. 

25. — Don't fail to cover any card led, when you have the card 
next above it and the card next below it. Let this sink in! 
Many an Ace has been forced, fourth hand, because the player 
at second hand made the blunder of plsiying below instead of 
above a small card led. With the 8 led before you, the 7 and 
the 9 in your hand are of equal value. What is the sense, then, 
of playing the 7, when the 9 may possibly save your partner's 
Ace? Yet this is constantly done by people who call themselves 
Whist players! 

26. — Don't lead the Ace back after taking the first trick with, 
a small card, unless you have so many that you are afraid to 



4 



PLAYING SECOND HAND 



risk a discard by one of your opponents. Suppose your 10, sec- 
ond hand, has won the first trick. Now if you lead the Ace, 
you establish the King, which is very likely in first player's 
hand. But if you keep away from that suit, you have the best 
of it, no matter how the play comes. If third hand leads it, 
you have the King at your mercy. If your partner or the ori- 
ginal leader leads it, you can still keep your Ace and finesse a 
small card. In this way you will probably make three tricks in 
the suit, while if you lead out your Ace you will likely make 
only two. 

27. — Don't fail to stop a trump lead of your opponents, by 
playing the Ace of trumps second hand high, when both you 
and your partner are trumping suits. Suppose that you have 
shown that you are out of Spades a ad your partner has shown 
that he is out of Diamonds. The opponent at your right leads a 
small trump. You hold the Ace and 2. Well, you throw the 
venerable rule, **second hand low," to the winds, and play your 
Ace. Then you lead a Diamond, which your partner trumps, 
returning you a Spade. You make your 2 of trumps — which 
you hardly would have done if you had played it ''second hand 
low" on the first lead— and lead your partner another Diamond. 
You have now worked in your cross-fire in spite of the efforts 
of your opponents to bring in their suits, and, by the use of a 
little common sense, you have made at least two tricks that you 
would have lost by playing ''second hand low. " 

28. — Don't forget that your play, second hand, on a trump 
lead is very different to your play on a plain suit lead. For in- 
stance, the Ace having been played, you should not put up your 
King on a small card led, unless you want to stop the lead, or un- 
less third hand has played such a high card that you suspect him 
of holding the Queen alone. By holding up the King — which you 
cannot lose, anyway — you give your partner a chance to make 
his perhaps unguarded Queen, or possibly his Jack, for third 
hand, with Queen and 10 or 9, will probably read fourth hand as 
holding the King, and will try to save his Queen by playing his 
next highest card. Even with both King and Queen, it is some= 
times well to play low, especially when third hand has shown 
weakness in trumps, or when you will be compelled to lead from 
an Ace, Queen suit if you take the trick. 

29. — Don't fail to especially watch the cards played by third 



PLAYING THIRD HAND 



5 



hand, and to compare them with the cards remaining in your 
own hand. This will often give you the most valuable informa- 
tion and will save you many tricks. For instance: You play the 
Jack on a small card led, and third player puts on the 10. Now 
that in itself may not seem to mean so very much, but if you 
look in your hand and find the 9, or— to go a little deeper— if 
the fourth hand plays the 9, it means a great deal indeed. It 
means that third player has no more of that suit, and you must 
govern your play accordingly. Yet I have seen a player of many 
years' experience do this: he took the first trick with the Queen, 
playing second hand. Third hand played the 10. Then this sec- 
ond player led the Ace, and almost fell out of his chair with as- 
tonishment when third hard trumped it, although he held the 
9 and Jack in his own hand ! And we see these things every 
day. Again, by watching the cards played by the third player, 
you will be prevented from putting up high cards uselessly. 
Suppose the third hand has put up the 10 on his partner's lead 
of a small card. Your partner takes the trick and changes the 
suit. Later on the former suit is led again. Why should you 
put up the Ace, if you have the 9, or even the seven, supposing 
the 8 and 9 to have fallen on the first trick? Oh, the player at 
second hand has something to do besides playing * 'second hand 
low''— if he wants to give at least a faint imitation of a man 
playing Whist. And yet it is all so very easy, if you will only 
get in the habit of noticing these things. First, an under- 
standing of what you should do, and then a little effort and at- 
tention, and almost before you know it the difficulties will dis- 
appear and you will no longer make the blunders that are so ex- 
asperating to a good partner, while your enjoyment of the game 
Vill be increased a hundred fold. 

PLAYING THIRD HAND 

30. — Don't finesse the 10, with 10, Queen, on your partner's 
lead, in a plain suit. In trumps, with the Queen and three 
guards, it sometimes wins. 

31. — Don't finesse the Jack, with Jack, King, in plain suits, 
when playing third hand, unless fourth hand has shown, on a 
ead from his partner, that he has not the Queen. (See No. 3.) 

32. — Don't neglect, in playing third hand, to bestow the same 
attention on the cards played by fourth hand that you observed. 



6 



PLAYING FOURTH HAND 



when playing second hand, in regard to the cards played by third 
hand, and for the same reason. 

33. — -Don't forget that it may be well to finesse your Jack, 
with Jack, King, on your partner's second lead, the Ace having 
been played, when you see that you may need the King later on 
as a card of re-entry. Remember this. 

34. — Don't hesitate to finesse the Queen, with Ace, Queen, on 
your partner's lead, except when you have a very long suit, and 
second hand has played a high card, indicating that he is likely 
to trump the second round. Then play your Ace. 

35. — Don't, if you can well avoid it, return your partner's lead 
in a plain suit, when second hand has taken the first trick with 
the Queen or a low card, and has changed the suit. The strength 
doubtless lies with second hand, who is waiting to slaughter 
your partner on your lead. Fool him. This does not apply to 
your partner's lead of trumps, which should always be returned. 
(See exception, No. 64.) 

PLAYING FOURTH HAND 

36. — Don't forget that you can often give your partner the most 
valuable information by common-sense playing at fourth hand. 
(See Nos. 40, 44, 48, 55, 74, 78, 89, 107), and let them sink in. 

37. — Don't fail to lead the best card in a suit when you have 
it and when you see that your partner has no more and is likely 
to trump the suit if it comes to him at second hand. Thus: 
Your opponents lead the Ace and King. On the second lead 
your partner drops the Queen. Your opponents then change 
the suit. You hold the Jack, but your partner, of course, does 
not know this, and may trump the suit if it is led, later on, at 
his right hand. You should lead your Jack at the very first op- 
portunity, even before returning your partner's trump lead. 

38. — Don't, when you hold a winning card, play a losing card 
on a trick that is against you, and then try to excuse yourself 
by saying, *'I didn't notice what was played," or, **I thought 
it was your trick, partner." There is absolutely no excuse 
for this blunder. The three cards are in plain sight before 
your eyes, and you have the right to ask your partner to draw 
his card, if you are in doubt as to who has the trick as it lies. 
If you cannot take the trouble to be sure who has the high 
card on a trick, when it is up to you to take it or to give it away, 
you should never attempt to play cards. About once in a life- 



PLAYING FOURTH HAND 



7 



time is often enough to commit this unpardonable offense, and 
yet we all know ''players'' who are Ruilty of it almost every 
time they sit down to play. 

39. — Don't fail to watch carefully the cards played by your 
partner at second hand, for your position as last in play gives 
you opportunities for putting through winning plays that are 
afforded by no other position around the table. These are 
chiefly cases in which you can return your opponents' lead to 
advantage. Here is one instance: Player A leads a small card. 
Your partner, at second hand, plays low. Now, third hand, who 
is supposed to put up his highest card, produces only the 9, and 
you win the trick with the 10. Now do you see what a pretty 
play you have in returning your opponents' suit? — provided that 
you have not such overwhelming strength in it that you are 
justified in attempting to establish it by leading trumps. It is 
plain that the third player has no high cards in the suit, and if 
the King lies in the first player's hand, and the Ace in your part- 
ner's, which is quite likely, you have your opponents **in the 
hole," — if you play your cards right. You should return the 
suit, leading, if possible, a card that is as good as the one put 
up by the third player on the first lead If the original leader 
does not cover this, your partner will not, and you win the 
trick, while your partner's Ace is still held over the doomed 
King in the first player's hand. If you have no card high 
enough to *'hold down" the third player, lead your highest any- 
way, as your partner may have the one that you lack. Now, 
if you do not take the lead here, as I have described, your 
partner may have to lead the suit, and he would have to lead 
the Ace, after which the King would make the third trick. 
Another one of the many opportunities for good play offered 
the fourth-hand player is when your partner has shown that he 
either has no more or that he has the best card in a suit led by 
your opponents. Thus, if he plays the King on an Ace led, or 
the Queen on a King led, you must conclude that he either has 
no more, or that he has the best card, and you must lead that 
suit to him as soon as possible, provided that he has not called 
for trumps, in which case this lead would be the very worst that 
you could make, for you will either force him to trump, or to 
put up a winning card that he may need later on as a card of 
re-entry. 



8 



A FOURTH HAND STUNT 



NOTE THIS FOURTH=HAND PLAY 

40. — Don't forget this useful little stunt: Suppose you hold 
Queen, Jack and one small card, and Ace, Queen in one or more 
other suits, playing fourth hand. The Ace of your Queen, Jack 
suit is led. You should play your Queen. Funny play? Not at 
all. It's the only play. The leader will almost always become 
frightened, and change the suit, perhaps leading up to your Ace, 
Queen, in which case you will make two tricks — while you would 
probably make only one if the lead came frum either of the 
other players. Again, your play of the Queen shows your part- 
ner that you do not hold the King, and so, if he has no more of 
that suit, he knows what to do on the second lead. And still 
again, it shows him that you have either the Jack or no more, 
and that he can depend upon you for the third trick. Ace and 
King being gone. And once more, if you play the small card 
first, you cannot make both Jack and Queen, anyway, for 
the King is sure to fall on the second trick, if the suit is led next. 
Now do you see why the Queen is the only common-sense play? 

LEADS IN GENERAL 

41. — Don't lead from a Queen at the head of a suit if you can 
avoid it. 

42. — Don't fail to lead, as soon as possible, a suit that an op- 
ponent is discarding, especially if it has not yet been led. 

43. — Don't lead a suit that both of your opponents are out 
of. One will discard from another suit while the other trumps. 

44. — Don't fail to lead the King as soon as possible, when you 
hold King and Queen only. Your partner may lead the Ace, 
and your two highest cards will fall together. 

45. — Don't ever lead from a King and one small card if you 
can possibly avoid it, nor from a King and more than one small 
card, unless your only other lead is still worse. 

46. — Don't lead a '*thirteener" early in the hand, just because 
you happen to have it. Wait until later, when it may be worth 
several tricks to you by forcing out a menacing trump. 

47. — Don't lead trumps in order to establish your strong suit 
when you find that your partner has none of that suit. It is 
better to let him discard from his weak suit on your high cards, 
and use his trumps on that, later on. 

48. — Don't lead a small card, when obliged to open a suit headed 
by King, Queen. Lead the King. What is the sense of letting 



LEADS IN GENERAL 



9 



fourth hand v/in the first trick with the Jack, and then losing 
your King to the Ace in second hand? 

49. — Don't lead the King, in a plain suit, with King:, Queen, 
Jack, 10. The 10 will pass the Ace in second hand, and your 
partner may trump the second round, while if your partner 
puts up the Ace, there is small chance of harm resulting. 

50. — Don't lead trumps first, early in the hand, when you have 
a long and strong suit to establish, only moderate strength in 
trumps, and no card of re=entry. First lead the highest card 
of your strong suit, for the information of your partner, and 
then lead trumps. 

51. — Don't fail to lead the twelfth plain suit card when it is 
evident that the thirteenth lies in fourth hand, surely when you 
have the best, and when you have the lower, unless your part- 
ner has shown that he does not want to trump in, or unless 
you have the best card in some suit that second hand is likely 
to discard from. Then lead that first. 

52. — Don't forget that, when you lead out your Ace, King and 
Queen of trumps, for no reason, but just because you have 
them, it is two chances to one that you are establishing a suit 
for your opponents. That's plain, isn't it? You say, * 'I didn't 
want to trump in with my big trumps." Well, isn't it better 
to trump in with your Ace, King and Queen, and possibly let 
your partner trump in with his 2, 3 and 4 — six tricks instead of 
three — than to blindly lead trumps with two chances to one 
against its being the best play? 

53. — Don't lead the small one from Queen, Jack and a small one. 
Lead the Queen. If second hand covers, and your partner goes 
over with the Ace. your Jack is at once good for the second 
round, while if you had led the small one and called out your 
partner's Ace, your Queen or Jack dies in the second round. 

54. — Don't lead Ace first (in plain suits) with Ace and one 
small card only. Lead the small card first. If the King lies in 
second player's hand he will not put it up, and your partner may 
win the trick with the Queen, leaving you with the Ace for the 
second trick. The King dies to your trump on third lead, 
whereas had you led the Ace first the King would have made. 

55. — Don't lead the lowest of a sequence, or of two cards of 
equal value. For instance, Mr. Duffer, holding Queen, Jack 
and 10, leads the 10. His partner puts up the King, which is 



10 



LEADS IN GENERAL 



promptly killed at fourth hand. Mr. Dutfer is shocked. *'Why, 
you didn't need to put up the King/' he moans. **I had the 
Jack and Queen." For the love of Mike! yes; but how was his 
partner to know it? 

56. — Don't forget that there are two exceptions to the forego- 
ing rule. One of these is when the opponent at your left is cut 
of the suit, and you are not strong enough in trumps to estab- 
lish it. If you lead the lowest, he may pass it, and you steal 
the trick. The other exception is when you hold King, Queen, 
Jack, 10, 9, etc., and want your partner's Ace out of the way of 
your suit when established, so that he will not be forced to take 
the lead away from you and ruin your play. 

57. — Don't lead a small card * 'through" a face card turned up, 
if you are trying to have your partner kill the turned-up card. 
Thus, suppose that the King is turned to your left as trump, 
and your hand justifies a trump lead. Your partner may have 
the Ace, and it would be a fine thing if he could kill that King. 
Now if you hold the Queen, Jack and 10, or any of them, you 
should lead the highest. If these pass the King, your partner, 
supposing him to have the Ace, will also let them pass. But if 
you lead a small card— having these in your hand— your partner 
will consider it necessary to play the Ace and return the lead — 
when you will lose your highest trump, anyway — as he will 
think that you want trumps out at any cost, which he should 
not think if you lead a high card with the evident intention of 
forcing up the King. 

58. — Don't lead from a suit containing Ace and Queen, with- 
out the King, if you can possibly avoid it. This is about the 
very worst lead that can be made in Whist, and it is simply as- 
tonishing to see how many people— I cannot say playeis— are 
guilty of making it. It is plain to be seen that if you lead the 
Ace, whoever holds the King wins the second trick, and your 
Queen is likely be trumped on the third lead. On the other 
hand, if the play comes to you, fourth hand, you are sure of 
winning the first two tricks. Besides, you have a good chance 
to kill your opponents' King. If the suit comes to you from 
your partner you will finesse the Queen, with a good chance to 
of making two tricks. If it comes to you from your right 
hand opponent you will also play the Queen, with the same 
prospect. So the imbecility of leading from the combination of 
Ace, Queen is perfectly evident. 



ABOUT THE SNEAK LEAD 11 

ABOUT THE "SNEAK*^ LEAD 

59. — Don't let it forever fail to permeate your inner conscious- 
ness that the perennial **sneak lead'' is a big loser in the long 
run. I know that it is an impassibility to convince the chronic 
sneak leader of this fact, but the less hardened should be some- 
what amenable to reason. In the first place, when you lead 
your little sneak, you require your partner to put up his best 
card. If that happens to be the King, and he gets it killed, 
you have lost a trick, because he would almost certainly have 
made his King on the second round. Again, if your partner, 
with Ace, Queen, finesses and loses his Queen, you have lost a 
trick, probably, for he would very likely have made both Ace 
and Queen, besides, seeing you refuse on the second lead, he 
would have given you a third lead to trump. And again, the 
suit would probably have been led, you would have seen some- 
thing of your partner's strength in it, and might have been 
able to shorten up in some other suit, saving your trumps for 
good use later on. Of course, there are instances where the 
lead from a sn^^ak, or singleton, as is its more dignified title, is 
perfectly justifiable, and is good Whist. One of these is when, 
toward the close of the hand, you have nothing else to lead but 
a suit that will bring you certain disaster. Another is when 
you find yourself with one or two little trumps, no leading 
cards whatever, and a singleton — a kind of hand indicating that 
someone has a long, strong suit and will lead trumps at the first 
opportunity. 

RETURNING YOUR PARTNER'S LEAD 

60. — Don't take too much stock in that ancient fable about 
always returning your partner's lead. It is sometimes noth- 
ing short of idiocy to do so. 

61. — Don't fail, however, to return your partner's lead unless 
you have a very good reason for not returning it, and are sure 
that you are justified in your action. 

62. — Don't return his lead when, for instance, he has led an 
Ace and one of your opponents has played the Queen to it, or 
the King, and you hold the Queen yourself. 

63. — Don't return his lead when it is plain by the fall of the 
play that he must lose a high card to the opponent behind him, 
which he might save if that opponent leads up to him. 

64. — Don't forget there are only two valid excuses (and one 



12 ABOUT RETURNING LEADS 

exception) for not returning your partner's lead of trumps. 
One of these is sudden death and the other is that you have no 
trump to return. Of course this will not apply to a good player 
who may refuse, with good reason, to return the blind, senseless 
trump lead of a duffer, but you should be sure that your part- 
ner doesn't know what he is doing, before you refuse to return this 
most important of all leads. Now the only exception to this 
rule — and even this is not admitted by some players — is in a case 
like the following: The King has been turned as trump by the 
opponent at your right. Your partner leads the Jack or ]0 
through the King. The King keeps off. You, holding the 
Ace, also keep off.. Fourth hand wins the trick and leads a plain 
suit. Now you, on getting the lead, should not return trumps, 
but should endeavor to put your partner in the lead, as it is 
most plainly his desire to force the King up against your Ace, 
and he will probably next lead a high card that will either force 
the King or win, leaving your Ace still in control. 

RETURNING YOUR OPPONENTS' LEAD 

65. — Don't fall a victim to the superstition that you must 
never return your opponents' lead. It is often the very best 
thing that you can do. 

66. — Don't hesitate to return your opponents' lead when it is 
evident that your partner can take the trick. Capture it be- 
fore it has a chance to get away. 

67. - Don't hesitate to return your opponents' lead when it is 
evident that your partner is out of that suit. If he refuses to 
trump, it gives you the advantage of knowing that he wants a 
trump lead. 

6S.— Don't hesitate to return your opponents' lead, on the 
third round, when the location of the winning card is doubtful, 
and you have a poor hand to lead from, and might put your part- 
ner in jeopardy by opening a new suit. 

CONCERNING DISCARDS 

69. — Don't keep a **thir teener," or the last cards of any suit, 
when you see that you cannot hope to get the lead. 

70. — Don't discard the last cards out in any suit, if there is 
any possibihty of getting the lead. They may be useful in forc- 
ing out adverse trumps, or they may be made good by the devel- 
opment of unexpected trump strength in your partner's hand. 

71. — Don't forget that your first discard — if you have a part- 



CONCERNING DISCARDS 



13 



ner who knows anything about the game — is as important as 
your first lead. 

72. — Don't discard so as to leave a King without a guard 
when the Ace has not been played, or a Queen without two 
guards, with both Ace and King out against it, or with one guard 
with either one of these out against it. 

73. — Don't discard a **thirteener'' when you have the slight- 
est chance of getting in the lead, if you have any losing card to 
discard. A **thirteener'' may be of the greatest value: first, 
when the trumps are all out, when it is as good as the Ace of 
trumps; second, when it is evident that your partner has just 
one card left in a losing suit, and you want to give him a chance 
to discard it; third, when you want to force a triimp out of 
your opponents, without using one yourself. 

74. — Don't commit the error, so common with some players, 
of attempting to inform your partner as to the suit ycu want 
him to lead, by discarding a card of that suit. The proper dis- 
card (with two exceptions) is always from your weakest suit, 
and you will simply deceive your partner — if he happens to be 
a player who knows anything about the game — by discarding 
from your best suit, for he will lead you anything but the suit 
you are discarding, unless he thinks that you have got rid of 
your last card in that suit, and are prepared to trump it. Be- 
sides, can't you see that your discard from your weakest suit 
gives your partner almost the same information as you could 
impart by actually discarding from the suit that you wish him 
to lead? He certainly knows how you stand regarding two of 
the four suits — the one that is being led and the one that you 
are discarding from. It must, then, be one of the two remain- 
ing suits that you wish him to lead, and he will usually know, 
from the previous fall of the cards or from the contents of his 
own hand, which of these two suits to lead. The two excep- 
tions in which you do not discard from your weakest are: first, 
when your right hand opponent is trumping a certain suit, and 
you have a chance to get rid of your cards in that suit — even 
though they be the best out — in order to trump over him; sec- 
ond, when you hold a top sequence— Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 
etc.— and there is urgent necessity that this suit be led; then you 
should discard the Ace, or whatever happens to be the highest 
card out, and your partner cannot fail to give you your lead. 



14 WHEN YOU DON'T TRUMP IN 



WHEN YOU DON'T TRUMP IN 

75. — Don't throw away half a dozen tricks for the sake of 
taking one trick, by wasting a trump when you have a fine long 
suit and may need every trump in order to make it good. For 
example, suppose you have a hand something like this: 

Hearts — Ace, King, Queen, 2. 

Clubs-4, 3. 

Spades — Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, 7, 6. 

Hearts are trump. Now suppose one of your opponents 
opens the play by leading the Ace of Diamonds. You have no 
Diamonds. What are you going to do about it? Your first im- 
pulse, no doubt, would be to trump it with the 2 of Hearts. 
Well, that would be about the most idiotic thing you could do. 
You have seven Spades, which are surely good for seven tricks, 
IF the Jack falls by the third lead, and IF you can get all of 
the trumps out, or IF you can get them all out but one — which 
you can force out with your Spades— and IF you can get back 
into your Spades again after losing the lead to that last trump. 
I once saw this hand played in this manner: Player A led the 
Ace of Diamonds. Player B trumped it with the 2 of trumps 
and led Ace, King and Queen of trumps. He then opened his 
Spade suit with the Ace. Player C trumped this with the last 
trump, and led a Diamond, which Player D (B's partner) took 
with the King. D led a Club, which was taken by A, who then 
went down the line with his Diamonds and Clubs, making eight 
tricks altogether. Just as a ''post mortem,'' the hands were 
picked up again, and Player B played correctly, with the fol- 
lowing result: he discarded the 4 of Clubs on the Ace of Dia- 
monds led, and the 3 of Clubs on the second lead of Diamonds. 
This trick was taken with the King by D, who led a trump. B 
played his three high trumps, and led the Ace of Spades. This 
was trumped, as before, by C, who led a Diamond. And here 
is where B's common-sense playing reaped its reward. Not 
having weakened his hand by trumping that Ace of Diamonds, 
he still had the 2 of trumps left— AND HE NEEDED IT ! Be- 
sides, he had got rid of his two worthless little Clubs. He 
trumped the Diamond and went down the line with his six re- 
maining Spades, making a total of eleven tricks, as against fi^e 
that he made when he trumped the Ace of Diamonds instead of 
discarding a worthless Club and saving his fourth trump as a 



FORCING YOUR OPPONENT 



15 



re-entry for his long Spade suit. And it wasn't "scientific'' 
Whist that made this difference of six tricks in one hand. It 
was just plain, ordinary, every-day common sense! 

FORCING YOUR OPPONENT TO TRUMP 

76. — Don't fail to force an opponent who has refused to trump 
a trick that was against him. Common sense must show you 
that the player in such a case has a strong plain suit, and that 
he is only waiting to get a chance to lead the trumps out and 
bring in his suit, but that he has no trumps to spare. Hence 
the worst injury you can do him is to force him to use one or 
two of his trumps without drawing any of yours. To be sure, 
you must sacrifice one or two high suit cards, but you will 
block his game and prevent him from making two or three 
times as many tricks in his own suit. But here is the way some 
**players" handle the case: Smith leads the Ace of Spades. 
Jones, next in play, has no Spades, but does not trump the Ace, 
discarding a small suit card instead, and the Ace wins. Smith 
hugs himself all over at getting his Ace home. *'Aha!" he 
says, *'got no Spades, eh? Well, I'll fix you," and he leads out 
trumps — Ace, King, Queen, Jack. Poor Smith! Why, bless 
his fool heart, that is just what Jones wanted— as the unfortu- 
nate Smith discovers later. Smith then leads another Spade. 
Jones takes it with the last trump out and then goes down the 
line with six or seven tricks in Diamonds. 

DON'T PLAY AGAINST YOUR PARTNER 

77. — Don't try to force your partner to trump in after he has 
shown that he does not want to do so. LET THIS SINK IN ! 
For instance, one of your opponents leads the Ace of Diamonds. 
Your partner has no Diamonds, yet he does not trump the Ace. 
Later on you get the lead and lead a small Diamond. Well, you 
have committed an act of stupidity that is about as near being 
criminal as anything can be in a card game— yet we see this 
done with a frequency that is heai "breaking to those who try 
to find enjoyment, not exasperation, in the game. Now It 
should be perfectly plain to you that when your partner refused 
to trump that ace, he did so for a reason— if we may assume 
that he has as much sense as a breakfast food— and that reason 
must have been, first: the fact that he had a long suit that 
would yield several tricks if he could get the trumps out and 
bring it in; second: that he had no trumps to spare— that he 
could not afford to run the risk of losing perhaps four or five 



16 



GIVING INFORMATION 



tricks by weakening his trump suit for the sake of taking one 
trick. Your imperative duty, then, on securing the lead, was 
to lead a trump — the highest you had. If you try to force him 
to trump in, you are simply joining forces with the enemy and 
compelling your partner to battle against three opponents in- 
stead of two. Paste this in your hat! 

GIVING YOUR PARTNER INFORMATION 
.78. — Don't fail to give your partner all the information possi- 
ble regarding the cards you have in your hand. This can often 
be done very easily by playing your cards properly. Here is 
one instance: Suppose that you hold the Jack, 10 and 9 of a suit, 
and the Ace is led. You should play the Jack, and on the sec- 
ond lead you should play the 9. Now, unless your partner is an 
inmate of the Home for the Feeble-Minded Blind, he cannot 
fail to know that you still hold the 10. If you play these cards 
in any other manner, you convey no information whatever. Of 
what use is this information? you ask. Well, it may be of all 
kinds of use. In the first place, it tells your partner that he 
must not lead you that suit with the expectation that you will 
trump it. Again, it puts him out of all doubt in case the suit 
is led again at his right hand, and he has no more. If you had 
played your first two cards in any other manner, he would be in 
total darkness as to whether he should trump the trick or not. 
Now, how^ever, he knows exactly what to do. If the Ace and 
King, but not the Queen, have fallen, he knows that he must 
trump the trick to win it, for if you had held the Queen you 
would have played it instead of the Jack. On the other hand, 
if the Ace, King and Queen have fallen, he knows that he can 
get rid of a worthless card on the trick with perfect safety, for 
he knows that you have the 10, which is the best card out. 
Now do you see what advantage there is in playing your cards 
in a common-sense manner instead of playing them like a man 
shoveling coal? Of course this plan should be applied to all se- 
quences, whether of three, four or five cards. Thus, with 10, 
9, 8, 7 and 6, you play first the 10, and then the 6, showing your 
partner three cards that you have in your hand, as plainly as if 
you spread them out on the table. There are many such in- 
formation-giving plays, but I will cite just one more. Suppose 
that you hold Ace, King, Queen and Jack of a suit. The suit 
is led to you, playing fourth hand. Now, if for any reason you 



GIVINGINFORMATION 



17 



dare not attempt to establish this suit by leading trumps, you 
may take the trick with the Ace, and lead back the Jack. If 
it is trumped, your partner will know that you still hold the 
King and Queen, and, if strong in trumps, he should try to es- 
tablish them for you. Had you taken the first trick with the 
Jack, and then led the Ace, he would be in the dark as to the 
whereabouts of the King and Queen. Remember that you can 
never know anything of the real enjoyment of the game, nor 
will you be anything but a nuisance and a source of exaspera- 
tion to a good partner, until you have learned such simple rudi- 
mentary points as these, and which require such a very small 
amount of time and attention in order to master them. 

MISCELLANEOUS *'DON'TS'' 

79. — Don't think that there are no exceptions to every rule. 

80. — Don't try to be a good player and a ^'speedy" one at the 
same time. 

81. — Don't forget that you can safely finesse much more deeply 
in trumps than in plain suits. 

82. — Don't fail to exact a penalty, and don't wait to be re- 
minded of it, when you owe a penalty. 

83. — Don't think that '*an Ace is only good for one trick." It 
may be good for much more, handled with judgment. 

84. — Don't become disgusted and discouraged when you pick 
up an unusually poor hand. Other people have the same kind 
of luck, too. 

85. — Don't think that mistakes are never made by even the 
best players. The always-perfect Whist player has not yet 
been evolved. 

86. — Don't think that failing to sort and count your cards is 
any excuse for making a renege and spoiling the hand for the 
three other players. 

87. — Don't forget that an Ace led may catch onlj^ the 2, 3 and 
4, while an Ace played fourth hand will kill one oi your oppo- 
nent's highest cards. 

88. — Don't forget that the 2, 3 and 4 of a plain suit will be 
just as good as the Ace, King and Queen of trump, when they 
are the only cards of that suit left, and when the trumps are out. 

89. — Don't play the card that you have turned as trump, as 
long as you can just as well play another one. Thus, if you have 
turned the 8, and hold the 7, 9 and 10, you should play these first. 



18 



MISCELLANEOUS ''DON'TS^' 



And which of these first? The 10, of course, showing your part- 
ner that you still hold the 9 and 8. 

90. — Don't think that someone isn't sure to see you when you 
try to ''rubber" at an opponent's hand. And— well, what do 
you think of the sneak who tries to look into your hand? 

91. — Don't think that a '*sneak" lead is never justifiable. 
The lead of a singleton is perfectly legitimate, and, in cases 
where any other lead is sure to result in disaster » the **sneak" 
should be led without hesitation. 

92. — Don't forget that it requires brains, observation, humil- 
ity, patience, and a willingness to learn — especially the latter — 
to become a good Whist player. **A wise man can learn from a 
fool, but a fool from a wise man, never." 

93. — Don't think that the rankest kind of bad play doesn't 
sometimes win tricks, and that the finest kind of good play 
doesn't sometimes lose them. These cases, however, are merely 
phenomena, and do not affect final results. 

94. — Don't think that merely playing at Whist for a great 
many years makes a good player " Years make old men, not 
sages." Some of the biggest duffers in the game are people 
who have played from twenty to fifty years. 

95. — Don't forget that a poor hand requires greater skill and 
more brains to piay than a good one. Study your poor hand 
carefully, watch the fall of the cards, and by skillful manage- 
ment you may do far better than you expected to. 

96. — Don't laugh at people who play Whist ''by the book." 
That is, unless it is your custom also to laugh at people who play 
the piano, violin and other instruments by note, or who design 
buildings and construct railroads "by the books." 

97. — Don't let it escape your notice that the finesse is the 
greatest trick-gaining (or trick-stealing) device in Whist, and 
don't be afraid to resort to it — at least the Ace, Queen finesse 
— whenever you have the fortunate opportunity to do so. 

98. — Don't "swear off " finessing because you have just 
had your Queen killed by the King in fourth hand, and then had 
your Ace trumped on the second round. You might as well 
swear off breathing because you have just inhaled a mosquito. 

99. — Don't try to play your thirteen cards against the thirty- 
nine others. You have a partner. (This does not apply when 
your partner happens to be a duffer. In that case you will be 



MISCELLANEOUS DONETS ^' 



19 



obliged to play against the thirty-nine other cards, whether you 
want to or not.) 

100. — Don't fail to trump a *'thir teener/' second or third hand, 
toward the end of the hand, when you hold a trump that you 
cannot possibly make, anyway. You may thus do much good 
by forcing a high trump from one of your opponents, while oth- 
erwise he would have taken the trick with a small trump, and 
used the high one to damage your partner with. 

101. — Don't * *get mad" and play recklessly or purposely wrong, 
just because your partner has made a mistake — or you think 
that he has. Even if your score is hopeless, you have no right 
to injure your partner's score. This doesn't buy you anything. 
Besides, his bad play may have been the result of one those 
oversights that occasionally happen to the very best players. 

102. — Don't forget that, with an utterly useless trump, it is of- 
ten good play to trump a trick, even when you know that your 
partner, at fourth hand, has the best card. You get in your 
otherwise worthless trump, and leave your partner still in con- 
trol of the suit. This is especially correct play, first, when you 
want the lead; second, when it will be a disadvantage for your 
partner to have the lead; third, when your opponents are trying 
to force out the high cards in that suit. Otherwise, otherwise. 

103. — Don't forget that giving up without doing your best 
doesn't buy you anything. Two toads fell into a pail half full 
of milk. ''I'm a goner!" yelled one toad, and sank at once to 
the bottom and was drowned. Well, I'll kick as long as I'm 
alive," said the other toad. So he kicked and kicked and 
kicked until he found to his surprise that he had churned a big 
lump of butter. So he climbed up on the butter and hopped out 
of the pail. (Of course this happened before toads learned to 
swim.) 

104. — Don't try to excuse an inexcusably bad play. You only 
invite the suspicion that you are either very ignorant or very 
stupid when you attempt to explain away a palpable blunder, 
while a frank admission that you played like a chump will ef- 
fectually clear the atmosphere and disarm all further criticism. 
Besides, it will keep you in the good estimation of your fellow 
players, which the other course will not, for there is hardly any 
object of greater derision than the fool who doesn't know that 
he is a fool. 



20 



MISCELLANEOUS '^DONT'S" 



105. — Don't think that it shows you to be a person of vast su- 
periority or importance when you sneeringly remark: "Oh, I 
don't pretend to be a Whist sharp; I have too many other things 
to think of.'' Well, Presidents, Kings and Emperors, and many 
of the world's greatest thinkers, have found the keenest intel- 
lectual enjoyment in becoming "Whist sharps," and in learning 
to play the game well. If Whist is below you, for heaven's sake 
don't make a monkey of yourself by sitting down and botching 
up the game for others. Leave it alone. 

106. — Don't fail to count the cards as they fall, and note their 
size, when a suit is led in which you hold a large number of 
small ones. Then you will know when your small ones have be- 
come the best. Of course a real player keeps track of every 
suit, and even a beginner should be able to keep track of at 
least one suit beside the trump. (You cannot pretend to be 
playing Whist at all if you are not keeping track of the trumps. 
It is certainly not such a difficult matter — for a person who is 
not an idiot — to count as high as thirteen,) 

107. — Don't expect your partner to have the Queen, if he has led 
the Ace but has not held the King. Thus: Your partner leads 
the Ace. Then he leads a small one. This trick is taken with 
the King by the second in play, who then, or later on, returns a 
small card of the same suit. You have no more, and you are in 
doubt whether to trump the trick or not, as you don't know who 
holds the Queen. Well, you shouldn't have any doubt at all. 
Your partner does not hold the Queen, for, with anything else to 
lead, he would not have led an Ace, Queen suit — unless he hap- 
pens to be a rank duffer. See? 

108. — Don't forget that inattention to the game is absolutely 
unpardonable. **0h, I was thinking of something else," or, **I 
didn't notice what was played," really mean, *'I should have 
stayed at home instead of coming here to make a nuisance of 
myself. ' ' If you were in partnership in business you would not 
think of ruining the interests of both your partner and yourself 
by failing to do your duty. Well, Whist is a business — even 
though it be only a business of intellectual enjoyment — and you 
have no right to wilfully or carelessly ruin your partner's busi- 
ness — which in this case is his enjoyment. 

109. — Don't lubricate your thumb by inserting it in your mouth 
while dealing the cards. If your thumb is too smooth, you 



MISCELLANEOUS '^DONT'S^' 



21 



might tie a piece ^ of sandpaper around it, or you might take the 
cards off of the deck by deftly jabbing them with a jackknife. 
It is no longer considered the acme of good form to spit on your 
thumb just previous to handing a card or any other article to 
your neighbor. Indeed, it is related that a certain finicky young 
man, seeing the dealer insert a not overly clean thumb in a not 
overly clean mouth, drew a pair of gloves from his pocket and 
incased his hands in them before touching his cards. 

110. — Don't play even one card, when picking up your hand af- 
ter the deal, until you have sorted your hand and examined care- 
fully the cards in each suit. You have seen the ninny who 
* 'plays Whist" something after this fashion: Being first in play, 
he begins picking up his cards one by one. When has picked up 
about the third card an angelic smile spreads over his features. 
''Ah! here's an Ace! That's good enough for me!" And down 
on the table goes the Ace. He scoops in his trick triumphantly, 
and picks up a few more cards. ''Hello, here's another Ace. 
That's what I call some luck! Let's see how this one'll go." 
And that Ace follows the same course. If he chances to pick 
up the four Aces, he plays them all in the same blind, senseless 
way. Then he leans back in his chair complacently. "Well, 
partner, I've done my share; now let's see what you can do." 
It matters not to him that one or more of these Aces may have 
been accompanied by a Queen, which would have given him two 
sure tricks in that suit— playing fourth hand — or two probable 
tricks, playing second or third hand. It matters not to him that 
one or two of these Aces was sorely needed later in the hand, to 
change a suit lead, to knock out an almost-established suit of his 
opponents, or to bring in an established suit of his own or of his 
partner's. No, it matters not at all to him that his fool play 
may have cost him five or six tricks. He has ' 'done his share, ' ' 
and it is now "up to his partner to do the rest." It may be ad- 
ded that these remarks apply with equal force to the player who 
plays his Aces in the same manner, after he has looked at his hand. 

111. — Don't perform the idiotic stunt of refusing to put up the 
King on your partner's lead of a small card, for fear that you 
will "get it killed. " This is one of the most exasperating id- 
iocies of many beginners, — and of some older players as welL 
Here is about the way these geniuses work their wonders: You, 
holding Ace, six and seven, lead the seven. Second player puts 



22 



DEMEANOR '^DON'TS'' 



on the nine. Your partner, holding King and eight, plays the 
eight. Then he turns to fourth player with a knowing smile, 
which says, ''Aha! You didn't get my [Cing that time — I'm too 
smart for that!" When you get the lead again you lead, of 
course, the Ace, and your partner's King falls to it. Or, possi- 
bly, you may have been forced to lead two small ones from the 
Queen. Your partner, w4th King and tvfo small ones, lets your 
opponents take the first two tricks with ten, Jack, and then 
second player leads his Ace and slaughters your Queen and your 
partner's King at one shot. In vain you ;afterward try to ex- 
plain to him that he could hardly expect to win a trick by play- 
ing an eight on second player's nine; in vain you try to explain 
that even the sacrifice ^of his priceless King would have made 
your Queen good on the second round. There's nothing to it. 
He informs you that the Ace might have been in fourth hand. 
*'I did my best to save my King, but luck was against me, that's 
all." That is his ultimatum, and you can suit yourself about it. 
It seems absurd to devote space to such a simple proposition as 
this, but every experienced whist player knows how often he 
has been made the victim of this especial form of idiocy. 
*'DON'TS" CONCERNING DEMEANOR 

112. — Don't forget that silence is a requisite of good Whist. 

Ho. — Don't lose your temper— unless you enjoy having people 
lau^-h at you. 

114. — Don't ro8.r at your partner every time he makes a mis- 
take — unless you have never made a mistake yourself. 

115. — Don't forget that the gray-headed excuse, Oh, I didn't ' 
know I had that card," is twin brother to '*I didn't know it w^as 
loaded." Both are dead ones. 

116. — Don't display impatience at a slow player. Whist is a 
game for the exercise of brains, judgment and reflection, not a 
game of impulse and guesswork. If you want to play a swift 
game you should shake dice — one dice, one flop. 

117. — Don't commit the inexcusable offense of telling what 
kind of a hand you have before the play begins or while it is in 
progress. Nothing could be more unfair, and, besides, it is not 
Whist at all. You simply spoil the game for the other players. 

118 — Don't be one of those remarkable people who think that 
they are the only ones who should be expected to win— that 
everyone else should be perfectly satisfied with 2's, I's and 



DEMEANOR ^^DONT^S' 



23 



goose eggs, but that it is a crime if they don't score from 7 to 
13 every hand. These big I and little u people should stay home. 

119. — Don't dream that you can ever become a really good 
player of ordinary Whist until you have read and studied some 
good book on the genuine game. You may think so now, but — 
well, the Eskimo has grave doubts about there being any sky- 
scrapers, but when he gets to New York he changes his mind. 

120. — Don't act as if a crime had been committed every time 
that you fail to make the odd — or three or four of them. It is 
barely possible that there are other players who also like to 
make the odd trick occasionally, and who — unreasonable as it 
may seem to you — may really be entitled to it, once in a great 
while. 

121. — Don't weep aloud over your **bad luck" unless you are 
absolutely sure that it is not your miserably bad playing that 
is to blame. I have seen a player have a cursing fit over the 
*'hard luck" that kept him at the same table for seven consec- 
utive hands, when— having watched his play — I knew that he 
had lost the odd every hand, by his own bad playing! 

122. — Don't object to "post mortems," when conducted in a 
friendly, courteous manner— unless you happen to be either a 
player of absolute perfection or a congenital idiot. It is by 
talking over by-gone plays and noting past errors that we im- 
prove our play, and it is the best players who are most ready to 
discuss their own errors. It is the duffer who is eternally snarl- 
ing, "Oh, that was last summer." 

123. — Don't look at the bottom card, when dealing. That isn't 
Whist. In fact, according to the rules, a new deal must be had 
if the trump is exposed before the deal is completed. Of course, 
if you care nothing whatever for the rules, that is a different 
matter. In that case you might as well make your own rules 
altogether, and, while you are about it, make them to suit the 
exigencies of whatever kind of a hand you may happen to hold 
at the time. Thus, if you hold a hand chiefly composed of low 
cards, you might change the rule so that Deuces will take Aces 
and Trays will take Kings. That would be just as sensible as it 
is to cast to the winds the other rules that have been agreed 
upon by the generations of players who have made Whist the 
splendid game that it is when properly played. 

124. — Don't slam your card down, when playing to a trick, as if 



24 



DEMEANOR DONETS" 



you were trying to swat a fly or hammer a horse-shoe— that is, 
don't perform this boorish stunt unless it is your custom, when 
at the dinner table, to grab your grub with both hands and 
scoop it down your throat hog-fashion. In that case, of course, 
it is to be expected that you will also act like a hog at the Whist 
table. Annie Blanche Selby well says: **The Whist table is 
the crucible which reveals one's disposition in its true and un- 
varnished light, and seldom, if ever, is the impression formed 
of one by some lapse or breach of good manners there entirely 
eradicated or overcome." If these slam-bangers of cards 
could only realize the fact that they are advertising themselves 
as being persons of the rankest ill-breeding — it matters not 
how many diamonds or what fine clothes they may wear — there 
might possibly be a little less of this Johnnie Backwoods ham- 
mermg, but I doubt it. It's hard to make a silk purse out of a 
sow's ear. 

125. — Don't, when your partner, playing second hand, trumps 
a suit in v/hich you, at fourth hand, hold the best card, commit 
the inexcusable offense of showing by your actions that you 
hold the best card. We all know the detestable player who 
does this. He has a variety of what he considers cute little 
ways of accomplishing his dishonesty, all of which, however, 
are so transparent as to excite only the derision and disgust of 
honorable players. Sometimes he merely rolls up his eyes, 
emits a mournful sigh, and plays to the trick with the i-esigned 
air of one who, having lost all that is worth living for on earth, 
is prepared to face the terrors of death, unafraid. Again, he 
v/ill transfix his partner with baleful eye, grit his teeth, and 
finally fling a card viciously on the table. Sometimes he is even 
more audacious in his rascality. Seeing his partner hesitate, 
considering whether to trump or not, he will take his winning 
card out of his hand, and hold it ready poised to play! Well, we 
all know him, and we all despise him. Let him be somebody 
else — not you. 

Finally, don't think that merely reading this book will be of 
^ny particular benefit to you. But if you will take the trouble 
to pick out and place before you, in supposititious hands, the 
various combinations of cards referred to, and make yourself 
see WHY you should play as I have indicated, these suggestions 
should enable you to play a fine game of Whist party Whist. 



(CONTINUED FROM SECOND COVER PAGE.) 

the comfort and enjoyment of others than does the raw begin- 
ner who sits down to a game of Whist — doubtless with the best 
of intentions— and spoils ^he pleasure of his neighbors. 

You will perhaps say, ''Gracious! What a fuss over nothing! 
Of what importance is a game of Whist, anyhow? It surely 
isn't a matter of life or death. " True enough. And, along the 
same lines, of what importance is a fishing trip or a visit to the 
skating rink? They surely are not matters of life or death. 
Yet, when you go fishing, do you bait your hook with a chunk of 
wood and then cast your line up in a tree? Or, when you go to 
the skating rink, do you attempt to skate without first attaching 
yourself to a pair of skates? No matter how trivial in import- 
ance may be the thing that we are doing, it would seem that 
little can be gained by making an utter mess? of it. 

Many writers treat the * 'amusement'' player with almost 
brutal severity, terming him a boor, a '*jay," and some other 
things, and several small oceans of superheated ink have 
been shed on the subject. For my part, I realize the ameliorat- 
ing fact that the first offense (I am not quite so sure about sub- 
sequent ones) may be the result of perfectly excusable ignor- 
ance. I recall the case of a welf-bred, refined lady who was 
pursuaded by an "amusement' '-playing friend to attend a Whist 
party for the first time, being assured that "Whist is the easiest 
thing in the world; all you have to do is to follow suit or trump. " 
The lady attended the party and faithfully followed her brief 
instructions, but her debut as a Whist player failed to call forth 
any wreaths of glory. She trumped her partner's Ace, King 
and Queen of Diamonds, played the seven on her partner's lead 
of a small trump, holding the Ace in her hand, and twice led 
suits that her opponents were trumping, On the following day, 
when a sensible friend kindly but firmly explained the situation 
to her, the lady burst into tears of bitter mortification. Speed- 
ily recovering, however, she set out to interview her "amuse- 
ment"-playing friend. Just what took place at that interview 
I don't know, but I do know that a book store close by sold two 
books on Whist that same day, and that for several weeks two 
certain ladies were not visible at any public Whist party. To- 
day these two ladies are among the very best players that I 
know. 

Remember this: The only real "amusement" you can get out 
of Whist lies in playing Whist—not in preventing three other 
persons from doing sol 



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